Monday, May 7, 2007

Went to the British Embassy for a Garden Party in honor of the visit to the USA of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Everyone who is anyone in DC was there. Spent time speaking with Sen. Joe Lieberman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader of House Steny Hoyer, Columnist David Brooks, CNN’s Judy Woodruff, Fox News Chief Editor Britt Hume, Former Mayor of Baltimore Schmoke, Harvey Fineberg of IOM, etc. Spoke with Prince Philip who showed an astounding lack of understanding of what is biomedical research. He asked me what I did and I explained. He said “Of medical stuff; that is statistics, i.e. numbers”. I explained that we actually do research to answer questions. He insisted that it was all about statistics of diseases. I said that the statistics inform us of the extent of the problems, but then we do basic and clinical research to diagnosed, prevent and treat diseases. He then said, “Oh yes, like I said, it is all about numbers”. I hope that he was just jet-lagged. May 10-14, 2007 – Had one of the most intensely busy weeks in recent memory with preparations (rehearsals) for my upcoming Board of Scientific Counselors review of LIR, NIH Budget Retreat, NIH Roadmap Retreat, Commencement Address at Penn State, Major talk in Miami to AAI, NIAID National Advisory Council Meeting, and Senate Appropriations Hearing Testimony – all in 5 working days. It was exhilarating in a strange sort of way. Almost like being on call as an intern and having 5 admissions in a row. After a while, it does not make any difference how many they send you. Weather has been spectacularly beautiful – typical Washington Spring weather. Sunny, dry, warm in day, cool at night.